Greetings & salutations!

My budget 4.2 engine re-build revealed some disturbing issues: See photos:




Pitted cam followers. Obviously these are ready to be chucked (severely ).
I have others in better nick. Could these be substituted after dressing the tops with say, 1000 wet & dry?
Not too keen on shelling out A$22 x 12 unnecessarily.

Exhaust camshaft. # 4 lobe has pitting (?) on the side. Heel and top of lobe looks OK. Maybe this clears the tappet follower when rotating, maybe not. Ideas?
I also have spare camshafts. The parts numbers for these are very close to those from a 2.4 engine (420 Inlet C14985 v 2.4 inlet C 14986)
I cannot find cam part numbers for a 3.4 or 3.8 engine. Has anyone got these thanks?

​​​​​​​Just to clarify, the 4.2 engine is from a 420 saloon/Mk X. It's not the later XJ6 unit. (2 bolt flanges, not 4 bolt).

Any tips & help appreciated.

Pete

 

I'm fairly confident that you can use the later 4 bolt cam in an earlier car without a problem. You may have to do a little work for the tacho drive. If a 2 bolt cam has a groove on the flange, it is the later profile and runs with the same recommended clearance as the 4 bolt. Cams from 2.4 engines usually (or always?) have less lift than those from larger capacity (3.4 and up, not sure about 2.8).

For the clearances, an early cam, 2 bolt and no groove, will be somewhat noisy if the clearances are set at the values of the later camshafts.​​​

 

There are companies out there that will re grind cams for you and they could even change the profile slightly for better performance if required. Just type regrind camshaft into google search and it comes up with many options. Cheaper than buying a new cam and faster than searching for a decent second hand one to fit.

 

That cam can be metal sprayed & re-profiled to original. The Cape Town City Tramways Company used to metal spray Gardner 6LXB cams & substantially increase their life. Followers should be replaced.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Most useful
Has anyone ever used this product on head gaskets upon installation?

Regards, Peter.

TH

 

I was taught to never put anything on a head gasket job _ clean clean clean is key.

If you have to use a sealant, then the surfaces are not flat, and/or pitted, and any band aid fix will eventually fail.

Things only have to be 5 thou out or more and a head gasket will leak _ getting a sealant out of a can on evenly enough would be a challenge.

My 2 cents.

 

Today's head gaskets are micro encapsulated and should be fitted dry. Hylomar would cause Alfa Romeo head gaskets to blow. I agree with Jeff. Owned 7 Alfa's in my youth.

EDIT: Hylomar & even better Yamabond are fantastic products in the right applications ~ head gaskets is not one of them.

 

Refresh page for EDIT.

 

On the metal gasket it is better to use.

.

 

In my experience the Permatex product is rubbish for head gaskets. Fit them dry. They are micro encapsulated as I say above.

 

Micro encapsulation ~ If a deodorant or whatever manufacturer is advertising a new product & tells you to rub a patch of the page to sample the smell/fragrance etc. ~ that is micro encapsulation. Gasket manufacturers now do that with all the sealant you need. Microscopically thin, dry, clean & true.

 

Got it, loud & clear.

Thanks to all.

Pete